


another seaside, another history

by Jerevinan



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Daybreak Town, Gen, KH3 spoilers, Re:Mind Spoilers, Reflection, Sad, Scala ad Caelum, khux spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-24
Updated: 2020-01-24
Packaged: 2021-02-27 13:54:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 868
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22388269
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jerevinan/pseuds/Jerevinan
Summary: If he stares long enough at the flowers in the windowsills, the star-shapes chained together in the cobblestones, the glistening water in the many fountains—all those pieces connected to things he remembers the others by—his faith returns that they’re out there, somewhere, maybe in another time.I endorse reading fics on AO3's website, not a cash-grabbing app
Comments: 10
Kudos: 25





	another seaside, another history

**Author's Note:**

> I have no idea when canon is going to open my french doors wide and yell, "That's not what happened!" but I wanted to write this and had fun doing it.
> 
> I went with the theory that Eraqus is Brain's descendant.

The others four leaders are not with him. Brain finds himself alone with only a few other scragglers—random members of the Dandelions. The group stands at the remains of their former home, its shattered glass and crumbling brick discolored with age, the annals of its history remaining only on worm-eaten paper. The space where worlds were once whole is filled with darkness, fragments of what remains lighting the night sky as stars. 

Brain waits for days. Waits and hopes even one of them arrived. Days turn into weeks. The rest of them have started rebuilding, turning great constructions topsy-turvy beneath the water as a reminder of their origins. The new city is built above to symbolize their fresh start, Brain as the architect. 

Brain doesn’t erase all hints of the former Daybreak Town. It lives on in everyone’s memories, and little pieces of it leak into the design of the city. Some of the cobblestones have stars, just the same as the ones at Fountain Square. There are flower lamps about the city, and they keep synthesizing spirits, because who doesn’t need happy memories and a friend in battle?

Within the first year of Scala ad Caelum’s development, a stranger approaches Brain. They hand over a keyblade in an off-handed manner and only share tidbits of clearly edited history regarding its importance.

“Why me?” asks Brain with some annoyance. There is something unsettling about the eye fixed in the scarred metal. He has enough burdens to bear, enough painful memories to hold onto in order to fight against a fixed destiny.

“Gotta bequeath it to someone,” says the stranger from beneath his hood. “Looks like you’re the leader now. Pass it on when you know the time is right.”

Leader. Brain never felt comfortable with the title, but he lives with it now, isolated from those he shared the position with. 

He misses them, but when months turn to years and years to decades, he knows nothing but the new future he’s been forced to mold, and nothing of the fate of the others. He’s had no choice but to go on without them.

They’re not forgotten. If he stares long enough at the flowers in the windowsills, the star-shapes chained together in the cobblestones, the glistening water in the many fountains—all those pieces connected to things he remembers the others by—his faith returns that they’re out there, somewhere, maybe in another time. 

If Scala ad Caelum continues to grow in size and becomes relevant enough for his old friends to visit, maybe they’ll find the clues hidden in the architecture of the city and realize he never forgot about them.

~*~

Scala ad Caelum grows upward and outward, spurred by the ingenuity of several individuals. Brain is but one of them and perhaps the most recognized as founder. Cable cars are being invented by the newest wave of scholars. Children play with spirits in the streets, waving pinwheels to the winds. It’s idyllic. Too much so, as if those hopes are as fleeting as the gales that blow through the mills and power the city. 

How long before the next keyblade war?

Brain has children and grandchildren now, far removed from the goings-on of his family. His life has been much different than the one he lived in his youth. For him, he’s lived much too long. He has passed on the knowledge needed for the future. 

Many of the Dandelions have passed on, leaving this nexus to their future generations. The rest never arrived. Not Ephemer, not Skuld, not Lauriam, not Ventus. 

Brain waited anyway.

He has already bequeathed that strange keyblade to a new master. It will be passed down through a set of rituals, and future leaders will abide by the same exams. The Book of Prophecies is passed along to his kin. It is important to remember where they all came from and the dark things that have faced without flaunting the book to the world. Brain considered burning it, but decades later, the worn copy went to his daughter, and she will someday give it to one of her children.

These days, he doesn’t do much but wait for a peaceful end. The window ledge of his room looks out over the growing city. They built parks long ago, and the tree flowers blossom, the breeze carrying petals off to other islands. There are people at the market who don’t know what it’s like to come back to the devastation of their hometown. On a good day, one can look at the water and see—clear as day—the rubble of their previous home, but most people don’t even note it anymore. It has simply become a part of Scala ad Caelum. They’ll soon be far removed from history that they may be forced into repeating it. 

Eventually, there will be more fighting. Squabbles will turn into war. It’s a future far ahead of the present, where the youngest generations savor the leisure provided to them by their less fortunate elders.

Brain puts on his old hat and closes his eyes. They’ll have to do all the fighting without him, he supposes. He has some other place to be now.

**Author's Note:**

> I tagged for spoilers for Re:Mind as a precaution, but they're mostly regarding the architecture. This was heavily inspired by that strange device that shows Daybreak Town from its prime to its ruin to it becoming Scala ad Caelum, as well as some other pictures I took right before the DLC released. I have so many thoughts regarding that connection, and as someone thirsty for any chi/unchained/ux content, I wanted to write something that came to mind, whether it is canon or not.
> 
> I also couldn't figure out how to fit it into the fic, but I'd assume maybe other surviving Dandelions went to the other worlds to salvage them the way Brain did with Daybreak Town? Or their descendants did. The whole children bringing light back to the world thing I guess? But also...there's life on those worlds, it had to come from somewhere? Haha


End file.
